Kazakhstan sent about 500 tonnes of humanitarian aid on Jan. 6 to the people of Syria in the form of food, including flour, canned meat, rice, pasta and tea.

Russian Ministry of Defense rendered its assistance in delivering the aid, which was brought by Kuznetsov dry-cargo ship to Tartus Port Jan. 5. The unloading and handover of the cargo to Syrian authorities began Jan. 6. Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Jordan Azamat Berdybai handed the humanitarian aid to the Syrian side in the person of President of the Provincial Council of Tartus Yasser Dibba.

The Higher Relief Commission of the Syrian Arab Republic will oversee the distribution of the Kazakh aid.

“Although the international community takes all required efforts, the humanitarian situation in the country remains catastrophic. In this regard, President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a decision to send humanitarian aid, namely food, to Syria. The 500 tonnes of cargo delivered in 33 containers include primarily food and medications and are meant for the Syrian people suffering the consequences of the six-year-long war. Kazakhstan backs the measures launched by the international community and the actions of the Syrian authorities and the opposition aimed at speedy ceasefire and determining the political future of Syria by means of dialogue and reconciliation,” Berdybai said at a meeting with the Syrian delegation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan expresses its deep regret with the announcement of the termination of cooperation between the United States and the Russian Federation on the settlement of the situation in Syria.

Such scenario is fraught with further bloodshed and human losses in this long-suffering country, jeopardizes all the previous agreements and prospects for achievement of a settlement in the foreseeable future. We are very concerned with the disagreement and deepening break in relations between the two actors of the international community – the Russian Federation and the United States – key for finding solutions to the Syrian crisis. This development will not be helpful to de-escalating the conflict and achieving stability in the whole region of the Middle East.

As noted in the September 10, 2016 statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan supported the agreement between the Russian Federation and the United States on the development of the General Settlement Plan of the Syrian crisis. We are deeply concerned that this plan, which gave hope for peace in Syria, was not implemented.

In this regard, we call for the soonest resumption of negotiations between the Russian Federation and the United States on this issue in order to prevent further aggravation of the humanitarian crisis and to end the suffering of the Syrian people.

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